The problems with murder
by Lauren14
Summary: When Alex is acting strangely and someone gets shot at BBQ bob's the team must find out what's going on before anyone else gets hurt. But are they too late?
1. Default Chapter

The problems with Murder  
  
It was late on a Saturday afternoon when Mark, Jesse and Amanda were sitting in the doctors' lounge at Community General.  
  
"I've gone almost nine hours without a break," Jesse said leaning back on the sofa and closing his eyes.  
  
"Yes me too it's been manic all afternoon." Mark replied sipping his coffee  
  
"You know it's times like these that I'm glad that I don't work in ER!" Amanda said smiling at her friends "So I guess its BBQ Bob's for dinner tonight then!"  
  
"Yes" the two men replied in unison  
  
Alex then walked in to the lounge and flopped down on the sofa next to Jesse  
  
"Uh! What an afternoon!" He said looking down at his blood stained clothes.  
  
"Alex! What happened to you? You look like you've been in surgery!" Amanda asked surprised by his appearance. His normally neat hair was ruffled and he was sweating heavily.  
  
"No I had some guy come in with an amputated leg. I had to stitch the end up and the guy wasn't that forthcoming even when he was drugged." Alex replied heaving himself off the sofa to make himself a coffee.  
  
"Well you find that people generally aren't very co-operative when they've just lost a limb!" Jesse replied without opening his eyes.  
  
"Hey Jess? You want some coffee?" Alex asked  
  
"Yes please!"  
  
"How long do you have to go?" Amanda asked her friends  
  
"Only another hour, thank God!" Jesse said taking the coffee from Alex. Alex then sat down next to Jesse and sipped at his coffee thoughtfully.  
  
"Alex? What wrong?" Amanda asked puzzled by her friend's vacant expression.  
  
"I'm sorry. Nothing's wrong!" Alex replied taking a big gulp of coffee.  
  
Jesse got up to add some more milk to his coffee.  
  
"Alex?" he asked looking at the roster on the wall. "Yes?"  
  
"Why are you still here? You were on the roster to come in a t six this morning. That was almost twelve hours ago! What are you still doing here?" Jesse said running his finger down the roster to Alex's name.  
  
"Umm well I thought I would get some extra experience." Alex replied but the others weren't convinced.  
  
The three sat and drank lots of coffee and were beginning to feel human again when suddenly the tannoy above them sprung into life.  
  
"Dr Travis and DR Sloan to Trauma 3!"  
  
"Oh no!" Groaned Jesse getting up and taking a large gulp of coffee.  
  
"Amanda we'll meet you here in an hour." Mark said leaving the lounge after Jesse and pulling his coat back on.  
  
"Ok guys see you later!" Amanda replied as the two men left the room! "Alex I've got an autopsy to do, would you like to come and help me?" She said looking kindly at him  
  
"Oh yes please!"  
Jesse and Mark hurried along the corridor, slightly more awake, and met Jane, one of the nurses, at the door.  
  
"What happened?" Asked Mark peering inside. He could only see the body of a man lying on the gurney inside.  
  
"Car accident. Only it wasn't an accident. Someone threw a brick off a freeway bridge!" The nurse replied helping the men into gowns! "I think you're going to need these it could be a very bloody procedure!"  
  
"Right! OK! Lets do it!" Jesse said and the two men walked in. Mark gasped as he saw the man. Not only was his face covered with broken glass but he was one of Steve's old college friends Jake.  
  
"Jake? Is that you?" Mark asked absolutely shocked by what he saw.  
  
"Mmm hmm." The man replied unable to speak because of the excruciating pain he was in.  
  
"Ok I'm going to need some morphine, a suture kit and some sterile dressings." Jesse said to Jane and then turned to look at the man. He must have been good looking under all the glass but Jesse knew that he would never look the same no matter how carefully he stitched the wounds up.  
  
"Ok Jake I'm going to give you some morphine for the pain and then were going to give you a shot of anaesthetic to numb your face and then Dr Travis and I will start sorting you out. Ok?" Mark said to his patient feeling very sorry for his son's friend.  
  
After a few minutes Jesse checked that Jake's face was totally numb and then began, with Mark's help, to remove the glass and stitch up the wounds. Both men were struck by how deep the wounds were and they both knew that it would take a lot of plastic surgery to get his face to look normal. Slowly the tension in Jake's body melted away as the morphine took effect. Jake was grateful that no glass had gone in his eyes and he cursed himself for having an old car that did not have a shatterproof windshield.  
  
Half an hour later the two Drs were finished and Jake was able to talk carefully with his lips close together.  
  
"Thanks Dr Sloan! How is Steve?" He said slowly.  
  
"He's fine. He's a lieutenant for the Los Angeles Police. Dealing mainly with homicide. I'll get him to come and see you soon!" Mark replied looking down at Jake with sorrow in his eyes. "Anyway I had best be off now! I'm in tomorrow so I'll come and see how you're getting on."  
  
"Thank you!"  
  
Mark walked out and closed the door quietly behind him. He took off his gloves and robes and walked over to Jesse who was discussing Jake's condition with Jane and filling out his chart.  
  
"Poor guy!" Jesse said. "He'll never look the same!"  
  
"I know he's a friend of Steve's. They went to college together." Mark replied as they headed towards the pathology lab to meet Amanda. "You know I think I'll refer him to Mr Hurt the plastic surgeon."  
  
"That's a good idea. You know it amazes me that one person's stupidity can cause someone else so much pain!" Jesse replied and held the pathology lab door open for Mark.  
  
"I don't know what is wrong with people these days." Mark replied.  
  
"Hey guys! What was that all about?" Amanda asked putting some files away  
  
"Oh this poor guy came in with glass embedded in his face. Some idiot threw a brick off a freeway bridge!" Jesse said a touch of anger in his voice which showed he was deeply touched by what had happened to Jake.  
  
"Oh my God that awful! I can't believe that!" she replied shocked as she got up and shut down the computer. "I hope you don't mind but I invited Alex to have dinner with us tonight? He just seems a little down."  
  
"No not at all! Where is he?" Mark asked  
  
"Well he just helped me do an autopsy on that stroke victim and then he went to say goodbye to one of his patients." She replied taking off her blood stained scrubs.  
  
"Something's happened to him!" Mark said thoughtfully  
  
"Yes I know. He was only scheduled to do a six-hour shift today. No one stays for that long if they don't have to, especially not the medical students they're normally off partying!" Jesse said  
  
"I know he must be shattered! Jesse do you know what time he's meant to be on in the morning?" Amanda asked taking one last look around the lab to check that every thing was in the correct place and then led her friends out of the lab.  
  
"He's in at twelve until three then he's got classes." Jesse replied shutting the lab door behind him.  
  
"I'm in at ten. I'll see if he's here then." Mark said and then motioned to the others to be quiet as he saw Alex coming towards them.  
  
"I'm starving! Lets go eat!" Jesse said quickly changing the subject as Alex joined them.  
  
The four wandered out to the car park and chatted amiably about the day's events. Amanda noticed that Alex still looked distant and trouble but she didn't want to pry.  
  
Steve was waiting for them at BBQ Bobs and they sat down to eat together.  
  
"How was trade today?" Jesse asked Steve  
  
"Lunch was really busy! Tonight has been a little quiet but it's picking up now!" Steve replied motioning to the waitress that they were ready to order.  
  
"Oh Steve!" Mark said suddenly. "Jake came into the hospital today. The poor guy's had a nasty accident. You should go and see him if you have a chance."  
  
"Oh my God! I haven't seen him in years. What happened?"  
  
Mark and Jesse retold the story and Steve was shocked.  
  
The conversation then moved onto work and the five talked about their day. They had all had long days and had a lot to tell and Alex was keen to tell the others about his first real patient and the others were pleased to see him happier.  
  
"Where are our meals I'm starving!" Said Jesse looking toward the kitchen for his meal.  
  
"I don't know! Would you guys mind helping me with a case?" Steve asked looking a little embarrassed.  
  
"Yeah sure son what is it?" Mark asked sipping at his water  
  
"Well there's been a string of rapes in L.A and unfortunately I've been assigned to the case! They all take place in broad daylight and in public places but there are never any witnesses." Steve replied fiddling absent- mindedly with the flowers on the table.  
  
"We'd love to help but how come you're working on a case like this? It's a little.. Unusual for you not to be working with dead people!" Jesse replied, "I'm going to chase up our meals hang on!" He said getting up but the waitress was on the way to their table and he sat down quickly.  
  
"Well the Captain thought I might like a change and there's very few murders at the moment. He has to give me something to do!" Steve said tucking into his meal.  
  
"Alex do you want to help?" Amanda asked looking at him worriedly.  
  
"Umm yeah sure whatever." Alex replied with little interest.  
  
The others looked at each other quickly and Mark shrugged. All of them were convinced that something was up but no one knew what. Mark wanted to talk to Alex but he didn't want to pry. It wasn't long before the restaurant filled up with customers and Jesse and Steve left their friends to help run the grill.  
  
"Well!" Amanda said getting up from the table and reaching for her bag. "I'd best get back. I want to see CJ and Dion before they go to bed. Give this to Steve will you?" Amanda said putting a ten-dollar note on the table "Do you need a ride home Alex?" She asked good-naturedly.  
  
"No thanks. I'll be fine. I'd like to hang out here a little longer." He smiled up at her. "Say hi to the boys for me!"  
  
Amanda got up and hugged them both and waved to Jesse and Steve as she left. Mark took full advantage of the privacy and took the chance to talk to Alex.  
  
"Alex what's going on?" Mark asked.  
  
"Nothing Mark. You know what I think I'd better go home and study!" Alex said quickly and got up and left leaving ten dollars on the table.  
  
"But Alex I thought you...." Mark said calling after him but he was gone and Mark gave up.  
  
"Hey what's up with Alex?" Jesse said returning to the table.  
  
"I don't know! I just asked him if he was ok and he went really strange and just walked out saying he had to study!" Mark replied concerned. "I know something is going on I just don't know what!"  
  
"What are you talking about?" Steve said walking toward the table with some ice creams.  
  
"Oh it's just Alex. He's acting a little strange at the moment!" Jesse said taking the ice cream from Steve and almost knocking it out of his hands.  
  
"Careful Jesse! Anyone would think that you hadn't eaten for a month!" Steve said quickly readjusting his grip on the sundaes. "I know he was a little quiet tonight but what do you mean by strange?"  
  
"Well today he was stillat the hospital six hours after his shift ended and everytime we ask him if he's ok he gets all touchy." Mark replied taking his ice cream and Steve sat down at the table.  
  
"Yes that does sound strange!" said Steve grimacing as he took too large a bit of his sundae and the cold went up his nose.  
  
"Now son if you don't slow down eating I'll have to take that ice cream away from you!" Mark said with a twinkle in his eye.  
  
The three men sat and talked until the last customers left and then they began to clean up the restaurant. Steve was over at the counter working out the days taking while Mark and Jesse wiped the tables down when suddenly the door burst open and a woman came running in screaming. Before she could say anything there was the sound of breaking glass and the woman fell to the floor. 


	2. The problems with murder part two

The problems with Murder Part Two  
  
"Everybody get down" said Steve to the others and then turned and crawled towards the counter to get his gun. "He might take another shot!"  
  
Steve then slowly crawled to the window and carefully peered out he saw a red convertible pulling away quickly and then screech around the corner. He got half of the number plate but he knew that even this would be vital. He turned to his father and Jesse who were leaning over the woman's body.  
  
"Well?" Steve asked getting up and walking over to them.  
  
"She's dead!" Mark replied, "The bullet went right through her head. Whoever that was he was a pretty good shot."  
  
"I'll call the police and the coroner. Amanda can do the autopsy in the morning." Jesse said getting up from the floor and dusting his trousers off.  
  
Steve then bent over the body and began looking for clues as to who she was. He didn't have to search for long. He found her purse under her back and then opened it up to find her driver's licence. It identified the woman as Bobbie Chestler. Steve handed the licence to his Dad and then started to look for other clues.  
  
"Steve she's only twenty-one" said Mark reading the date of birth.  
  
"I wonder what she has done for someone to want to kill her?" Jesse asked returning to the others. "The police are on the way. Oh and Steve Cheryl says that if she comes down her now can she get free ribs?" Jesse laughed at his friend's expression and then crouched next to Mark and they began to examine the body.  
  
"I don't know but we're going to find out!" Mark replied  
  
It wasn't long before BBQ Bob's was swarming with Police. The coroner arrived and took the body back to the hospital. It was late when the three left BBQ Bob's and Mark and Steve sat on their patio looking out over the ocean and talked about the murder for a long time.  
  
"Anyway I'm beat!" Said Steve getting up and stretching  
  
"Yes me too. I've got to be at the hospital at ten in the morning!" Mark said looking at his watch and following Steve into the house and shutting it quietly behind him.  
  
The next morning Steve had already left for work when Mark got up at eight. Mark, stretching and yawning, walked into his kitchen and smiled as he saw that Steve had left him waffles. He walked over to a cupboard to get some syrup and noticed that he had an answer-phone. He pressed the button and then sat down at the breakfast bar to eat his breakfast. "Hi Mark it's Amanda. I've just finished the autopsy on Bobbie Chestler I thin there's something you ought to see! Can you come to the path lab just after eleven and we'll go through it together" The answering machine beeped and cut out.  
  
Mark chewed thoughtfully on his waffle. He couldn't think what the autopsy could show other than the fact that the poor girl had been shot.  
  
He got ready for work and left the house. There was very little traffic because he had missed the rush hour and made it to the hospital in good time. When he got up to the doctor's lounge he clocked in and quickly checked Alex's card. It showed that Alex had clocked in at seven that morning. Mark frowned but had little time to think as a flood of car accident victims were rushed into ER with multiple injuries. As he was rushing between patients he asked one of the nurses to tell Amanda that he wouldn't be able to make it because of the emergency but when the nurse returned Amanda was with her.  
  
"Amanda?" Mark asked puzzled  
  
"I've come to help Mark! You said you had an emergency?"  
  
"Yes well we could use an extra pair of hands. Jesse's not in till twelve!" Mark said gratefully mopping the sweat from his brow.  
  
Two hours later Mark had finished in the ER and walked slowly to the pathology lab stretching his aching back.  
  
"Amanda?" He asked as he knocked on the pathology lab door  
  
"Come on in Mark." Amanda said cheerfully "How are things in ER now?  
  
"Fine. I've just got rounds to do this afternoon! Anyway what did the autopsy show?" Mark said looking at the body and thinking of how pretty the young woman was.  
  
"Well looking at it from a distance it looks like a normal bullet wound, but if you look closer you will see that the bullet didn't go that far in." Amanda said carefully rolling the body over so Mark could see the wound.  
  
"Hmm." Mark said looking closely at the wound. "What would cause that. An extra hard skull?"  
  
"No. I was puzzled so I removed the bullet and looked at it a bit closer. There was shot everywhere and it was only when I cleaned it off that I realised what had happened. Here come and have a look." Amanda said leading him over to her microscope.  
  
Mark looked through the scope and gasped at what he saw. "Oh my God! That's a gold bullet! No wonder the bullet didn't go in far, Gold is soft and will spread on impact. It's obviously someone very rich to be firing gold bullets!" Mark said looking closely at the bullet.  
  
"I'll call Steve and get him to come down and have a look!" Amanda said reaching for the phone.  
  
"Thanks Amanda" Steve said sitting at his desk at the precinct. "I'll be right over."  
  
He got up and picked up his gun from his desk and took a final swig of his coffee.  
  
"Where are you off to Steve?" Cheryl asked as she entered the room and spotted him leaving.  
  
"Amanda found something on the autopsy she did ont ehat woman who was murdered at BBQ Bob's. So I'm on my way there now." He replied  
  
"Oh by the way we solved that rape case late last night!" Cheryl replied getting herself some water from the dispenser.  
  
"Oh really? How?" Steve asked slightly annoyed that the eveing he signed the case over, after weeks of work, it was solved.  
  
"As I was walking home last night he attacked me. Luckily I managed to get my gun and held him off. He's confessed to all thirty rapes! Cheryl said sipping at her water.  
  
"Oh my God are you ok?" Steve asked with concern in his voice.  
  
"Yes I'm fine but I hope I'm not taking all the credit for all the hard work you have done." She replied.  
  
"No you deserve the credit. I came up with nothing the three weeks I was working on the case! I'd best get going now. Have a good day." He replied smiling at her and heading out of the door to his car.  
  
Ten minutes later Steve arrived at the hospital and headed to the pathology lab. When he entered his father and Amanda were sitting at her lap top filling in the autopsy report.  
  
"Hey Amanda." Steve said walking over to them and sitting down at the chair next to Amanda's desk!  
  
"Steve! Hi! Thanks for coming. I found something really interesting in the autopsy come and have a look." She replied and then lead him towards her microscope. He looked down into it expectantly.  
  
"Woah! What have you done to this bullet?" Steve said shocked.  
  
"Nothing it's made with gold!" Amanda replied. "Gold will flatten on impact it's much to soft to be used as ammunition."  
  
"This guy must be rich to be shooting gold bullets!" Steve said looking up from the microscope.  
  
The three sat down to talk about the autopsy when suddenly a nurse appeared at the door.  
  
"Excuse me Dr Bently."  
  
"Yes Michelle?" Amanda said looking up from the laptop.  
  
"Dr Travis need both you and Dr Sloan in ER stat! There's been a chemical spill and there's about fifty casualties on the way!" 


	3. The problems with murder part 3

The Problems with Murder Part Three  
  
Mark and Amanda hurried to ER and Steve said he would go to visit Jake while he was waiting. When they arrived the nurses were rushing about getting rooms ready and all the supplies the Doctors would need.  
  
"What've we got?" Amanda asked Jesse as she and Mark arrived in ER.  
  
"25 year old male with serious skin irritation." Jesse replied before running off to get more saline.  
  
"OK. I'm Doctor Bentley. What's your name?" Mark heard Amanda say to the patient before she wheeled him off to a room. Mark hurried over to the front desk and paged Alex. He waited for a few minutes until Alex came running up to the desk.  
  
"You paged me?" Alex said out of breath.  
  
"Yes we could use some help up here. Can you help Amanda in Trauma 3?" Mark said but suddenly another wave of ambulances arrived bringing in more casualties. "On second thoughts can you cope with some of these patients on your own?"  
  
"Of course"  
  
"Lets get to it" replied Mark and they split up  
  
It wasn't until three hours later when Amanda, Jesse, Mark and Alex had the situation under control and had cleared the backlog of patients and they returned to the Doctor's lounge and met Steve who was sitting watching Day Time Television and looked extremely bored. He looked up and smiled as the four walked in and switched off the TV.  
  
"Alex! You've missed your classes." Mark said sitting down and looking at his watch.  
  
"I know but I can catch up." Alex said seriously. "I think that those poor people up in ER are more important at the moment!"  
  
"I'm glad to hear you say that Alex. Dedication is what you need!" Mark said and then looked at Alex seriously. "But we're worried about you! You haven't been yourself lately. You're working extra long hours when you don't have to. You should work the hours you're given, study in your spare time and go out and have fun."  
  
"I need to talk to you all actually. I want to apologise for being so rude to all of you in the last week!" Alex said looking soulfully at the others.  
  
"It's ok but we would like to know what's up so that we can help you." Amanda said  
  
"I must have miscalculated my funds and I've got into a lot of debt. I don't know how because I've been really careful since my Dad died. But that's not the point! I had to sell my apartment and I've been sleeping here at the hospital and working as many hours as I can get here to earn extra money. I also am working at the Minimart around the corner at night! I'm so sorry I didn't tell you but I was embarrassed!"  
  
"Alex you've got nothing to be embarrassed about!" Amanda said getting up from her seat and sitting down next to him and putting her arm round his shoulders. "You should have told us! We would have helped you out."  
  
"Yes Alex! I know how hard it is to put yourself through medical school. You should have come to us. You can stay with us. Right Steve?" Mark said looking at his son who was getting up and stretching.  
  
"Yeah sure! No problem! I'd best get back to the precinct before someone misses me!" He laughed and pulled on his jacket.  
  
"Ok see you later son!" Mark said to his sons back but Steve turned and waved and at the same time walked straight into a nurse.  
  
Steve looked apologetically down at the nurse and discovered that she was very attractive with light brown hair and golden highlights. Her grey eyes twinkled up at him as she smiled and bent down to pick her the files she had dropped.  
  
"Sorry about that!" Steve said bending down to help her.  
  
Jesse looked out of the lounge window. "It looks like Steve's met Nikki the new nurse!" Jesse said laughing and they other three laughed and came over to watch.  
  
"No its fine!" Nikki said straightening up. "I'm Nikki by the way." She held out her hand to him.  
  
"Oh hi. I'm Steve Sloan!"  
  
"Ah of course you are you are very much like your father!" She replied. "Anyway I had best be off nice to meet you!"  
  
"Yes you too!" Steve replied and then left with a broad smile on his face.  
  
Back in the Doctors lounge Mark laughed and sat down again. "My son is terrible!"  
  
"No he's not I would love it if women went all soppy over me like that!" Jesse said going over to the refrigerator and taking out some chocolate bars and throwing them to his friends.  
  
"No Jesse you just wish you were Steve's height!" Amanda said fighting back her instincts to laugh.  
  
"Ha ha ha!" Jesse replied sarcastically!  
  
Then suddenly a call went up for Mark and he disappeared off to the front desk. It wasn't long before he returned and turned to the others. "There's been another shooting similar circumstances and I hope that we don't find what I think we're going to find on that body!" 


	4. Part 4

The Problem With Murder Part Four  
  
The others looked at Mark in disbelief.  
  
"But this can't be true I thought that the police had decided that it was a one off shooting." Jesse said looking at Mark.  
  
"I don't know but we wont find out until you do the autopsy Amanda." Mark replied looking at the others in the room who were all looking at him shocked.  
  
"I'll get right on to it. In the mean time why don't you take Alex home and get him settled in?" Amanda replied getting up from the sofa. "Jesse and I can cover if we need to!"  
  
"Thanks Amanda that would be great! Call me as soon as you know the results" Mark replied picking up some of Alex's bags.  
  
Mark and Alex left the hospital and headed back to the beach. It wasn't long before they were sitting on the deck talking and sipping iced tea. Steve came home and sat with his father and Alex and told them about the latest murder that had taken place.  
  
Suddenly the phone rang and Mark ran off to answer it. He came back looking pale and worried.  
  
"Amanda found another gold bullet in that latest victim" Mark said looking at the other two  
  
"Oh God! I hope that we're not looking for a serial killer!" Steve said getting up. "I'm going to go to the hospital now and go through the autopsy with Amanda!"  
  
"Ok son I'll see you later."  
  
**************************************************************************** ***  
  
Steve arrived at the hospital half an hour later and headed straight to the pathology lab. He found Amanda bent over her laptop filling in the latest autopsy report. Steve walked in and Amanda looked up and smiled when she saw who it was.  
  
"Hi Steve!" Amanda said gesturing for him to sit down opposite her. "Just one question though."  
  
"Hi Amanda." He replied flopping down into the chair. "Yes what's that?"  
  
"Do you ever go to work because you always seem to be here? Is it just insurance in case you get hurt?" Amanda said grinning and printing out the report for him.  
  
"Well I suppose that is one reason why I am here but its been so slow in my department at the moment that I haven't got that much to do so I hang around here talking to you guys." Steve replied taking the printed sheets out of the printer and glancing at them. "So exactly the same circumstances huh?"  
  
"Yes it looks like it. She was shot from behind and the bullet was made of gold. This is getting weird Steve we've got to find this guy before he kills anyone else! Do you think it's a serial killer?"  
  
"I was hoping that we weren't, but two murders in similar circumstances in less than three days does point to a serial killer I'm afraid and we've got to figure out the link between them to try and find the next victim before its too late." Steve said looking concerned. "Anyway I'm going to go home now. Do you and Jesse want to come for dinner tonight? I think Dad's making chicken."  
  
"That would be great Steve thanks. My Mum's taken the boys on holiday with her so I was dreading going home to an empty house!" Amanda said "I'll come with you now if you want? I've just got to finish up here."  
  
"OK. I've just got to do something but I'll meet you back here in five minutes." Steve said and then left the lab. He wandered down to the doctor's lounge. He thought that he had possibly left his jacket there three days before. When he entered he noticed that Nikki, the young nurse he had met the day before, was in the room and he greeted her warmly.  
  
"Hello again!" He said as she looked up.  
  
"Oh hi! How are you?" Nikki asked him putting her sandwich on the table next to her.  
  
"I'm fine. Don't let me disturb your lunch though I'm just here to look for my jacket. It's a black leather jacket have you seen it?"  
  
"Umm yes there's one in the sleep room. You could check it out." She replied picking up her sandwich again.  
  
He wandered into the sleep room and found his jacket hanging on the back of the door. When he returned Nikki was looking distainfully at her sandwich.  
  
"Hey what's wrong with you? You look like you've found something disgusting in that sandwich."  
  
He said noticing the look on her face.  
  
"No I'm just bored with sandwiches. I just don't have time to go out for lunch." She replied throwing the sandwich across the room and it landed in the bin.  
  
"What do you normally do for dinner then?" He asked smiling at her.  
  
"I normally just sit at home by myself and eat a microwave meal. Nothing special I usually am so tired that I crash when I get home." She replied reaching into her bag and pulling out a banana and starting to eat it.  
  
"Well how about I take you to a proper dinner tonight then?" He said looking at her keenly. "Do you like BBQ?"  
  
"Yes I do and are you asking me on a date?" Nikki asked suddenly looking shy.  
  
"Yes I guess I am." Steve replied "so tonight then?"  
  
"Ok. I finish at six." Nikki replied looking at him and smiling.  
  
"Ill pick you up at half past then. From here?" Steve asked getting ready to leave.  
  
"Yes that's fine. I'll see you then." She said and then got up. "Anyway I've got to get back to my rounds."  
  
They went their separate ways and Steve left the hospital with a broad grin on his face. It was later that evening when Jesse saw Steve and Nikki at BBQ Bobs.  
  
"Hey Steve what happened to dinner at your Dad's?" Jesse asked Steve as he walked in "Oh yes I should've known" he said suddenly catching sight of Nikki.  
  
"I was going to ask you the same thing. I phoned Dad and told him about the change of plans." Steve replied taking Nikki's coat and pulling out a chair for her.  
  
"I'm just picking up some salad for dinner because Mark forgot to pick it up on his way home." Jesse replied. "What can I get you?" He said pulling out a notebook and pen from his pocket.  
  
The pair quickly ordered and Jesse left for the beach house. It was late when the pair had finished their coffee and Steve offered Nikki a lift home.  
  
"Oh it's ok honestly." She said looking gratefully at him.  
  
"I would like to. It is my professional opinion that you should not walk home alone at night." Steve replied looking down into her blue eyes twinkling up at him.  
  
"Oh ok then." She replied. They talked very little on the way back to her house, as they were both very tired. When he pulled up outside her house he got out and walked her to her door. He looked down at her again and felt a longing to kiss her. He leant down towards her and their lips met. It was like nothing he had felt before and she finally pulled away and said goodnight, leaving her phone number with him.  
  
When Steve got home his friends were still at the house and he was surprised because it was almost one o'clock. "Guys what are you still doing here?" He asked sitting down at the table.  
  
"Well we've all got the day off tomorrow so they're going to stay here and then we're going to help you with your case." Mark replied looking up from Amanda's autopsy report. "How was your date?" He looked slightly mischievous and Steve wondered what his father was up to.  
  
"It was fine thank you." He said cautiously  
  
"Yes it looks like it" Jesse said unable to hide his amusement any longer.  
  
Amanda got up and walked over to Steve and used her napkin to wipe some lipstick off his cheek. Steve flushed a deep pink and rushed off to the bathroom to clean up. The others laughed heartily.  
  
Steve wandered back into the living room and flopped down at the table. "Well now you've all finished laughing at me can you tell me what you've found out?"  
  
"Well we would except we've found nothing!" Amanda replied getting up to get more coffee for the others and herself. She walked into the kitchen and the others carried on talking.  
  
"So nothing at all?" Steve asked frustrated  
  
"No nothing apart from the golden bullets. You'll need to look for someone who would make that kind of ammunition." Mark replied looking up as Amanda walked in with coffees in her hands for them.  
  
"I know I'm gonna look into it!" Steve replied sipping his coffee. "The Captain will want some answers and soon."  
  
"Yeah I guess so. Surely there must be something that we can find from the cases alone." Jesse said rummaging through the mountain of paperwork on the table and looking at Amanda's autopsy carefully.  
  
It was three in the morning when the group finally went to bed. Amanda went to sleep in Steve's room while Steve slept on his couch and Mark and Alex set up a bed for Jesse on the couch. Mark was up early the next morning and made pancakes for the others and squeezed some orange juice for them. It wasn't long until the smell of the pancakes awoke the rest of the house and Jesse appeared bleary eyed from the lounge and Steve and Amanda appeared from downstairs. It wasn't long until Alex emerged from his room and they all sat on the patio and ate their breakfast talking about the case. They group decided that Mark would go to the precinct with Steve to help him with his investigations while the others stayed at the house and went through the bits of information that Steve had managed to get together for them.  
  
It wasn't until five that evening that Mark and Steve returned to the house looking grim. 


	5. The Problems with Murder Part 5

"Well." Said Mark heaving himself up off the floor and starting to gather up the papers. "It seems like you lot have got somewhere today. We've just got to find out what this Sparsholt has to do with the two victims."  
  
"Yeah like that's gonna be easy we can't just walk in there and ask them why the pair were sacked on the off chance that it might have something to do with them." Jesse said beginning to stack the papers on the table.  
  
"No you can't but I can!" Steve replied  
  
"Do we even know what this company does?" Mark asked sitting down at a spare seat.  
  
"No we don't we can't find them in the phone book so I was just about to go and check the internet as you arrived, maybe we can find out what's going on here." Jesse replied getting up from the table and moving over the sofa in the living room where his laptop stood in the coffee table.  
  
"What's for dinner guys I'm starving?" Steve asked getting up and stretching his tired muscles which were aching from a day sat at a computer.  
  
"I don't think I've got much in the house Steve do you want to get some takeout?" Mark asked thinking of his almost empty refrigerator.  
  
"Sure is BBQ ok for everyone?" Steve asked picking up his wallet, badge and gun.  
  
"Sure!" They replied  
  
"I'll come with you Steve." Alex said getting up from the table and stretching languidly.  
  
"Lets take a break!" Mark said as the two men left from BBQ Bob's.  
  
"Yeah sure how about a walk on the beach?" Amanda asked putting the file she was looking at down.  
  
"Sounds good to me. Jesse?" Mark asked looking toward the lounge where Jesse's head was bent over the laptop and his brow was furrowed with concentration.  
  
"Jesse?" Amanda asked finally lifting her friend out of his daydream.  
  
"Umm yeah sure!" Jesse replied. "I can't find anything this company is non- existent." "Which begs the question, what does it do. Normally non-existent firms either don't exist or they are doing something they shouldn't be.  
  
"Mark said leading the other two out of the French windows and onto the patio where a cool breeze hit their faces. "How did you find out they worked for them anyway?"  
  
"It was on their personal files the LAPD had managed to pick up at the victims houses." Amanda replied looking out over the ocean and taking a deep breath of fresh air.  
  
"Seems a little odd to me!" Jesse said feeling tired from his day of hard concentration. The cool evening air started to wake him up and the conversation changed back to work at the hospital. Twenty minutes later they returned to the house to the smell of ribs and to see Alex and Steve setting the food out on the patio table.  
  
"I thought we had better eat out here because there's no way we are going to be able to fit on that table inside." Steve said sitting down and motioning for the others to do the same. The group sat eating until late compatibly talking about the case.  
  
"Do you know what gets me?" Steve said draining the last of his iced tea. "How two people who get fired at exactly the same time work for a non- existent company, it just doesn't make sense. I can understand one person maybe in this country illegally pretending they've found work but not two. They both had American citizenship! I just don't get it at all!"  
  
"No Steve nor do we but we will find out!"  
  
Mark said Amanda and Jesse left, after doing the washing up, and the other three retired to bed, worn out by the day of hard work and the thought of another hard day at their respective jobs.  
  
The next morning dawned cloudy and humid, Steve groaned as he got out of bed thumping his alarm clock as it went off for maybe the tenth time that day. He stumbled along to the shower rubbing his eyes and stretching his body. He turned the water on and climbed inside letting the hot water flow over his toned body. He slowly began to wake up and as he turned the water off and began to dry himself with his towel he heard his Dad call him.  
  
"Yes Dad." Steve said emerging at the top of the stairs a towel wrapped around his waist.  
  
"You know I was up all night thinking. I knew I had heard the name Sparsholt before and it's just come to me! I remember Nikki telling me that before she did her nurses training that she did a degree in Equine management in England at Sparsholt College. It might be worth looking into!"  
  
"Yes you're right. I knew I recognised the name from somewhere. I think I'm seeing her tonight for dinner if the case goes to plan." Steve replied wandering towards the kitchen.  
  
"Uh Steve?" Mark asked suddenly as he noticed Steve's towel get caught on the hall table. Steve suddenly grabbed his towel and laughed as he made a sudden dash downstairs to get dressed.  
  
Two hours later Mark was doing his rounds at the hospital when he came across Nikki checking on one of her patients. "Hi Nikki. How are you?" Mark asked as he met her coming out of a patient's room and they started to walk together talking.  
  
"I'm fine thanks I'm just about to finish after my night shift." She replied smiling  
  
"Good. Would you be able to go into the L.A.P.D precinct and Steve thinks you might be able to help him with his investigation." Mark asked opening the lounge door for her.  
  
"Yes of course I will but I don't know how I can help. You don't think I'm involved do you?" She asked concerned as she sat down at the table.  
  
"No of course not Nikki." Mark said kindly sitting down and handing her an ice-cold coke, "I just remember you saying that you did an Equine degree in England at Sparsholt College."  
  
"Yes that's right but what has that got to do with the case?" She asked taking a long sip from the glass.  
  
"Well we discovered that the two victims both worked for a company called Sparsholt LTD. We wondered if you would know anything about it." Mark asked starting to get up again "Anyway I have to get on with my rounds but do go and see Steve."  
  
"I will and thanks for the coke Dr Sloan." Nikki replied getting up and heading to the changing rooms. There she changed into a pair of jeans and a white top and prepared to face the heat outside.  
  
She put her sunglasses on and headed out to the precinct. When she arrived she looked for Steve and found him hunched over his desk, his brow furrowed in concentration and mountains of paperwork all over his desk. She stood looking at his strong arms and intense eyes for a moment before approaching him. "Steve?" She asked walking up to his desk and removing her sunglasses. He looked up suddenly from his work and smiled as he saw her standing there.  
  
"Hi. How are you?" He asked getting up and clearing the chair next to his desk for her.  
  
"I'm a bit tired I just finished the night shift at work. Your Dad said that I might be able to help you with the case." Nikki replied taking the seat and watching him as he moves around to his side of the table.  
  
"Yes we wondered if you knew a firm called Sparsholt LTD? Dad remembered that you did your degree at the college there." Steve asked looking intently at her.  
  
"Yes that's right. I'm not sure that I remember I hardly left the campus during term time I had too much work to do. I'll check with one of my friends over there later today if you would like?" She asked  
  
"That would be great thanks Nikki. Are we still on for tonight?" He asked getting up to say goodbye to her.  
  
"Yes if you aren't too busy with your case." She replied getting up and picking up her bag  
  
"I'm sure I can make time for you." Steve said leaning down and kissing her softly.  
  
She left the precinct on a high and walked towards the road to catch a cab home. Suddenly she was grabbed from behind and she struggled. She managed to turn round in the man's strong grip and came face to face with a tall man.  
  
"What do you want?" She asked scared.  
  
"I want to know what you just told the police about Sparsholt." He said in a gruff voice tightening his grip on her arm.  
  
"I don't know anything about it I just studied at the college there." She replied almost frozen with fear.  
  
"Well I'll give you a piece of advice then. Keep that pretty little nose outta our business or you're not going to see tomorrow!" He said letting go of her and running off.  
  
Nikki collapsed to the floor crying, she had no idea how long she had sat there shaking with fear and tears running down her cheeks, suddenly someone's voice was calling her name and strong arms were lifting her off the sidewalk. She struggled to get away but suddenly she realised it was Steve and shaking she felt his arm wrap themselves around her body as he held her close. "Well." Said Mark heaving himself up off the floor and starting to gather up the papers. "It seems like you lot have got somewhere today. We've just got to find out what this Sparsholt has to do with the two victims."  
  
"Yeah like that's gonna be easy we can't just walk in there and ask them why the pair were sacked on the off chance that it might have something to do with them." Jesse said beginning to stack the papers on the table.  
  
"No you can't but I can!" Steve replied  
  
"Do we even know what this company does?" Mark asked sitting down at a spare seat.  
  
"No we don't we can't find them in the phone book so I was just about to go and check the internet as you arrived, maybe we can find out what's going on here." Jesse replied getting up from the table and moving over the sofa in the living room where his laptop stood in the coffee table.  
  
"What's for dinner guys I'm starving?" Steve asked getting up and stretching his tired muscles which were aching from a day sat at a computer.  
  
"I don't think I've got much in the house Steve do you want to get some takeout?" Mark asked thinking of his almost empty refrigerator.  
  
"Sure is BBQ ok for everyone?" Steve asked picking up his wallet, badge and gun.  
  
"Sure!" They replied  
  
"I'll come with you Steve." Alex said getting up from the table and stretching languidly.  
  
"Lets take a break!" Mark said as the two men left from BBQ Bob's.  
  
"Yeah sure how about a walk on the beach?" Amanda asked putting the file she was looking at down.  
  
"Sounds good to me. Jesse?" Mark asked looking toward the lounge where Jesse's head was bent over the laptop and his brow was furrowed with concentration.  
  
"Jesse?" Amanda asked finally lifting her friend out of his daydream.  
  
"Umm yeah sure!" Jesse replied. "I can't find anything this company is non- existent." "Which begs the question, what does it do. Normally non-existent firms either don't exist or they are doing something they shouldn't be.  
  
"Mark said leading the other two out of the French windows and onto the patio where a cool breeze hit their faces. "How did you find out they worked for them anyway?"  
  
"It was on their personal files the LAPD had managed to pick up at the victims houses." Amanda replied looking out over the ocean and taking a deep breath of fresh air.  
  
"Seems a little odd to me!" Jesse said feeling tired from his day of hard concentration. The cool evening air started to wake him up and the conversation changed back to work at the hospital. Twenty minutes later they returned to the house to the smell of ribs and to see Alex and Steve setting the food out on the patio table.  
  
"I thought we had better eat out here because there's no way we are going to be able to fit on that table inside." Steve said sitting down and motioning for the others to do the same. The group sat eating until late compatibly talking about the case.  
  
"Do you know what gets me?" Steve said draining the last of his iced tea. "How two people who get fired at exactly the same time work for a non- existent company, it just doesn't make sense. I can understand one person maybe in this country illegally pretending they've found work but not two. They both had American citizenship! I just don't get it at all!"  
  
"No Steve nor do we but we will find out!"  
  
Mark said Amanda and Jesse left, after doing the washing up, and the other three retired to bed, worn out by the day of hard work and the thought of another hard day at their respective jobs.  
  
The next morning dawned cloudy and humid, Steve groaned as he got out of bed thumping his alarm clock as it went off for maybe the tenth time that day. He stumbled along to the shower rubbing his eyes and stretching his body. He turned the water on and climbed inside letting the hot water flow over his toned body. He slowly began to wake up and as he turned the water off and began to dry himself with his towel he heard his Dad call him.  
  
"Yes Dad." Steve said emerging at the top of the stairs a towel wrapped around his waist.  
  
"You know I was up all night thinking. I knew I had heard the name Sparsholt before and it's just come to me! I remember Nikki telling me that before she did her nurses training that she did a degree in Equine management in England at Sparsholt College. It might be worth looking into!"  
  
"Yes you're right. I knew I recognised the name from somewhere. I think I'm seeing her tonight for dinner if the case goes to plan." Steve replied wandering towards the kitchen.  
  
"Uh Steve?" Mark asked suddenly as he noticed Steve's towel get caught on the hall table. Steve suddenly grabbed his towel and laughed as he made a sudden dash downstairs to get dressed.  
  
Two hours later Mark was doing his rounds at the hospital when he came across Nikki checking on one of her patients. "Hi Nikki. How are you?" Mark asked as he met her coming out of a patient's room and they started to walk together talking.  
  
"I'm fine thanks I'm just about to finish after my night shift." She replied smiling  
  
"Good. Would you be able to go into the L.A.P.D precinct and Steve thinks you might be able to help him with his investigation." Mark asked opening the lounge door for her.  
  
"Yes of course I will but I don't know how I can help. You don't think I'm involved do you?" She asked concerned as she sat down at the table.  
  
"No of course not Nikki." Mark said kindly sitting down and handing her an ice-cold coke, "I just remember you saying that you did an Equine degree in England at Sparsholt College."  
  
"Yes that's right but what has that got to do with the case?" She asked taking a long sip from the glass.  
  
"Well we discovered that the two victims both worked for a company called Sparsholt LTD. We wondered if you would know anything about it." Mark asked starting to get up again "Anyway I have to get on with my rounds but do go and see Steve."  
  
"I will and thanks for the coke Dr Sloan." Nikki replied getting up and heading to the changing rooms. There she changed into a pair of jeans and a white top and prepared to face the heat outside.  
  
She put her sunglasses on and headed out to the precinct. When she arrived she looked for Steve and found him hunched over his desk, his brow furrowed in concentration and mountains of paperwork all over his desk. She stood looking at his strong arms and intense eyes for a moment before approaching him. "Steve?" She asked walking up to his desk and removing her sunglasses. He looked up suddenly from his work and smiled as he saw her standing there.  
  
"Hi. How are you?" He asked getting up and clearing the chair next to his desk for her.  
  
"I'm a bit tired I just finished the night shift at work. Your Dad said that I might be able to help you with the case." Nikki replied taking the seat and watching him as he moves around to his side of the table.  
  
"Yes we wondered if you knew a firm called Sparsholt LTD? Dad remembered that you did your degree at the college there." Steve asked looking intently at her.  
  
"Yes that's right. I'm not sure that I remember I hardly left the campus during term time I had too much work to do. I'll check with one of my friends over there later today if you would like?" She asked  
  
"That would be great thanks Nikki. Are we still on for tonight?" He asked getting up to say goodbye to her.  
  
"Yes if you aren't too busy with your case." She replied getting up and picking up her bag  
  
"I'm sure I can make time for you." Steve said leaning down and kissing her softly.  
  
She left the precinct on a high and walked towards the road to catch a cab home. Suddenly she was grabbed from behind and she struggled. She managed to turn round in the man's strong grip and came face to face with a tall man.  
  
"What do you want?" She asked scared.  
  
"I want to know what you just told the police about Sparsholt." He said in a gruff voice tightening his grip on her arm.  
  
"I don't know anything about it I just studied at the college there." She replied almost frozen with fear.  
  
"Well I'll give you a piece of advice then. Keep that pretty little nose outta our business or you're not going to see tomorrow!" He said letting go of her and running off.  
  
Nikki collapsed to the floor crying, she had no idea how long she had sat there shaking with fear and tears running down her cheeks, suddenly someone's voice was calling her name and strong arms were lifting her off the sidewalk. She struggled to get away but suddenly she realised it was Steve and shaking she felt his arm wrap themselves around her body as he held her close. 


End file.
